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The Lord of the Rings: Again

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The Lord of the Rings: My Thoughts on the Trilogy by: Luke Fahnestock For my final blog post of the year, I will be revisiting The Lord of the Rings . As you may or may not know, my first blog post was a review of the first book in this trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring . Coming back to this series feels like the logical way to conclude this year’s posts. This post is not a comprehensive summary of the entire trilogy, so if you are unacquainted with The Lord of the Rings ’ plotline I recommend reading my first LOTR blog post. Starting off is The Fellowship of the Ring . The first establishment of the trilogy starts out in traditional, first book fashion. The first chapter jumps right into the events of the story, and begins setting up the plot. This direct introduction to the series may seem abrupt, but Tolkien is quick to clarify most unfamiliar terms. Additionally, if the reader happens to be dissatisfied with the background information that Tolkien provides in these chapters, the...
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Don't Go Without Me and Laura Dean Keep Breaking Up with Me: A Rosemary Valero-O'Connell Endorsement

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  Graphic Novel Artist recommendation by: Gabby As a person who’s recently only been able to read graphic novels without having to take at least a month to get through them, I thought that ending off my blog posts with another recommendation of one would be a good idea, this time however, of the actual artist themself.  Rosemary Valero-O’Connell is a comic artist who currently has about 2 graphic novels: Don’t Go Without Me and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me . I started my experience with her art by first reading Laura Dean , and it was a wonderful experience to read from start to finish. Seeing as this is mainly an artist recommendation and not one for the books themselves (though i’m still going to promote those) I won’t go too far into the book’s plot, but I will give a basic summary. Frederica “Freddy” Riley is 17 years old, in high school, and currently going through a toxic on-off relationship with the one Laura Dean. The narration of the story is told through Fred...
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Why I Think I Would Make An Excellent Vestal Virgin And Fisher King And You Should Consider Me For The Position

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Why I Think I Would Make An Excellent Vestal Virgin And Fisher King And You Should Consider Me For The Position by Isa <- - Just some girlbosses tending a fire <-- A medieval Fisher King mosaic    Hey guys! Welcome to yet another unhinged blog post with Isa. After my Twilight hate train, I’ve had a few lunch-time requests to write something in a similarly feral fashion and seeing as this will be my final post this year, I am indulging. While I'm not sure I can replicate my 1 am-gotta-go-can't-stop mentality at 12:48 pm, I have a few cursed topics in the cracks of my brain I thought I’d use.     For a certain history project that brutally disrupted my mental state, I studied the Vestal Virgins, a very powerful group of women from ancient Rome who had politics and priests at the time in a saccharine chokehold.  A book I read while collecting info was Brides of Rome: a Novel of the Vestal Virgins by Debra Macleod, which is a very good fictional st...
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Yet Another Masterpiece, Dry by Neal Shusterman

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  Yet Another Masterpiece, Dry by Neal Shusterman By Felix Lee               Imagine a situation where water stopped running from faucets and you were left without water. What would you do in order to survive? This scenario is depicted in Dry by Neal Shusterman, a realistic fiction novel. The book begins with the California drought escalating to catastrophic proportions as the taps run dry. All of a sudden, with the realization of the lack of water, people begin to panic. They start doing whatever they can to ensure they have enough water to survive, and as the options dwindle down, they become more and more desperate. The story follows the perspective of two different main characters, Alyssa and Kelton, as they struggle to survive. Alyssa, a 16-year-old high school student, and her family are caught off guard by the water shortage. On the other hand, Kelton, Alyssa’s neighbor, who has a major crush on her (to t...
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Catching Fire and Mockingjay: Critiquing the Sequels

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  Catching Fire and Mockingjay : Critiquing the Sequels by: Luke Fahnestock (Spoilers ahead) In one of my previous blogs reviewing the Hunger Games , I mentioned that the first book was my favorite, and the other books were not as enjoyable. I have decided to make a follow up post critiquing the second and third books in the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay . In general, both Catching Fire and Mockingjay pale in comparison to the original Hunger Games . The plot of the first Hunger Games is exciting and new for a reader that has never encountered the series before, but the sequels fail to replicate this vital attribute. The obvious way to continue the Hunger Games series was to create scenarios where Katniss and/or Peeta would have to fight for their lives in the arena a second and third time, but Suzanne Collins does not initiate this strategy in the most effective way. Catching Fire does create a somewhat different scenario to set up the 75th Hunger Games...
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Anonymous Noise by Ryoko Fukuyama

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 Anonymous Noise by Ryoko Fukuyama review by: Gabby Mongwa This manga series starts with the main character Nino and her childhood friend Momo, who liked to sing with her through the windows of their neighboring houses. One day, Momo has to move away, and Nino starts wearing a mask over her mouth all the time to keep from screaming. Not long after that, Nino meets Yuzu, a boy around Nino’s age who’s a composer and doesn’t sing because if he does, he’ll “turn to bubbles and disappear”. The two become close friends as well, with Nino singing the songs Yuzu composes, but after an incident that causes Yuzu to have to leave as well, Nino starts singing at the beach every day in an attempt to try and reach either Yuzu or Momo. 6-7 years in the future, Nino is in high school, still continuing her ritual of singing at the beach, until after a high school orientation performance, where she finally finds Yuzu again. She then joins the music club and the masked band “In NO Hurry” in her pursu...
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Manga Review: Beastars Vol. 01

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Manga Review: Beastars Vol. 01 By Isa BACK COVER BLURB One night at Cherryton Academy, an herbivore student is brutally murdered. Among the members of the Drama Club, the herbivores’ suspicions naturally turn to their carnivore classmates… The prime suspect? Wolf Legoshi. But he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Or would he? Will dwarf rabbit Haru bring out the beast in him? Or are his feelings for her something else? THE REVIEW Cherrystone Academy is a school where herbivore and carnivore animals attend class side-by-side in peace. At least, until alpaca student and drama club star Tem is found murdered on campus. Herbivores immediately suspect their carnivore classmates, and the one who draws the most suspicion is drama club stagehand Legoshi the wolf. But even though Legoshi’s big, he’s far from bad; he’s a law-abiding citizen if there ever was one. Unfortunately, as the drama club struggles to prepare their next performance in the wake of Tem’s death, Legoshi gets dragged into one conflict afte...
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